An artist’s signature style (in Czech rukopis, literally handwriting) is the personal way an artist handles their medium: how they lead the brushstroke, how hard they press the pencil, how they layer paint and how they build a composition. Don’t confuse it with the signature itself. The signature sits in the corner of the painting, the style in every centimetre of it. You can see this beautifully in Vincent van Gogh, who in Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat from his Paris period lays short strokes of paint in different directions. The signature style is, quite simply, what lets you recognise a work before you have read the label.
An artist’s signature style is recognised by comparison with works whose origin is beyond doubt. The Italian art historian Giovanni Morelli (1816–1891) noticed that painters give themselves away most in the details they paint mechanically: ears, fingernails, thumbs. Connoisseurship (the ability to identify an artist by their style) still rests on similar observation today. Now, though, the specialist’s eye is complemented by X-rays, infrared imaging and artificial intelligence that compares brushstrokes with verified work.
In Art Part Club’s Edutéka we count a recognisable signature style among the basic marks of good art, alongside quality, a knowledge of history, innovation and topicality. An artist with a style of their own has a face on the scene. Collectors recognise them more easily, remember them and seek them out. The good news for a new collection is that you can see an artist’s hand very well in drawings, watercolours and prints, which tend to be more affordable than canvases. A small work on paper can tell you a surprising amount about its maker.
A signature style can be imitated, which makes it a favourite target for forgers. But it works the other way too. The Man with the Golden Helmet in Berlin’s Gemäldegalerie was long held to be a Rembrandt, yet in 1985 the Berlin expert Jan Kelch announced that details of the painting did not match his hand. Today it is attributed to the circle of Rembrandt. Recognisable, moreover, does not mean unchanging. With young artists the style develops, and isn’t that rather a good thing? Be more alert when an artist repeats one proven motif for years simply because it sells.
— Anna Pulkertová, founder of Art Part Club
Related terms: Criteria of good art · Works on paper · Verifying authenticity (blockchain and AI) · Fakes and forgeries · Certificate of authenticity and expert opinion
